47“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.48Yes, I am the bread of life!49Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died.50Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
52Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.
53So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you.54But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day.55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.56Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.57I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me.58I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”
59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
These are difficult words when you first read them. I struggle even today with them and they are the source of much controversy. I am not going to get involved in the controversy but rather lets talk about what we can all agree on and learn from this.
Jesus’ body and blood was sacrificed for our sins on the cross. We know for sure Jesus is at the very least talking on a spiritual level here. He is calling us to take his sacrifice on the cross and make it our source for life and strength. I know this is almost a repeat of a previous post, but Jesus is spending so much time on it and making such extreme emphasis on it that it’s importance cannot be over stated. We must thoroughly understand a believe that without Jesus’ death on the cross we are doomed to eternal damnation, but because of it we have eternal life with God. The fabric of life is flesh and blood and food and drink. The fabric of spiritual life is Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Jesus, help me always to be completely given over to you and your sacrifice. Help me to never forget my sins and your sacrifice. *obbs*
You’re right, Dan. This is a controversial passage. One of the reasons it is so difficult is that our interpretation must fall somewhere between literal, symbolic, and spiritual. If we are committed to literal interpretation, we aren’t equipped to understand it.
It’s hard to have scripture that we really don’t know what to do with.
Thanks for the input Ron. Humility and a willingness to live with not being sure sometimes goes a long way here.